Research and development: Concept One Croatia

Concept One is the name of the world’s fastest accelerating electric vehicle, reaching 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds. A product of the Croatian company Rimac Automobili, it was prototyped in the garage of Mate Rimac, the firm’s now 29-year old founder. Due to his enthusiasm and knowledge coupled with the skills of the 20 engineers working on Concept One, the car is competing successfully with the vehicles of much larger corporations.

Croatia has long traditions of innovation related to structural developments and investments in the R&D sector and even more, to its people’s independent and creative spirit.

R&D INNOVATIONS

In 1892 Nikola Tesla, as a “true son of this country,” urged the Zagreb City Assembly to install public electricity

Nowadays, young innovators no longer need to develop product prototypes in their garages. Zagreb’s Technology Park serves as a business and R&D hub at both national and regional levels, and has contributed to the establishment of a dynamic, creative and motivated high-tech community. The Park has three separate locations with 160 offices and 9,400 square meters of office space. It fosters an atmosphere of creativity and cooperation, with people’s enthusiasm and devotion being the engine of its success.

In the field of life sciences, research centres are the University of Zagreb, the Ruđer Bošković Institute, the Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, the Croatian Institute for Brain Research, the Croatian Veterinary Institute and the Energy Institute Hrvoje Požar. In addition, biotechnology centres like BIOCentar and Fidelta / Galapagos Research Center ensure cooperation between the business and academic communities. Overall, 11,000 scientists and researchers are employed in 234 science and research institutions.

The Ruđer Bošković Institute

RUĐER JOSIP BOŠKOVIĆ

The Ruđer Bošković Institute employs 300 senior and 250 doctoral and postdoctoral researchers. It carries out theoretical and experimental research in physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, oceanology and interdisciplinary studies. Its researchers actively participate in European cooperation initiatives and successfully secure EU funding for their projects.

Three-hour cancer diagnosis

THREE-HOUR DIAGNOSIS

Scientists from the Ruđer Bošković Institute have developed a prototype for the quick detection of pathogenic microorganisms and cancer cells. Unique in the world, the prototype can diagnose cancer in three hours.